Blackpool boss Ian Holloway still has doubts that his side have got enough quality to survive in the Premier League, despite the Seasiders making a fine start to the season.
Holloway's men have earned ten points from their first seven league games, winning 2-1 at Liverpool on their last outing, but most pundits still expect them to be relegated at the end of the season.
Holloway told The Gazette:"If we end up with anything like a third of the points the team that finishes top has, then I'll be absolutely chuffed as a badger.
"That would mean we'll have well over 30 or 35 points, because teams that win this league are that good – they are over 60 points better than that.
"The reality is that two teams who finished 21 and 32 points above us in the Championship last season are now with us in this division, so where on earth are these three teams that are going to be worse than us?
"We've got to stay solid, keep working and trying to perform to a level which is good enough for this league.
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Possibly the most exciting purchase a club can make, a striker brings with him goals, something different, and the hope of a successful season. There is never a bad moment to mention transfer rumours, as supporters are always on the lookout to see if their clubs will better the squad that’s not quite getting the job done. It’s also a time where the latest flavour of the month can get linked with anyone and everyone in the hope that one of them will stick.
But the goal scoring exploits of those abroad and their consistency suggest the Premier League is missing out on a number of top forwards. Some may be undervalued by their clubs, and others who are performing so well that a move to a bigger club is sure to materialise in the near future.
Here are ten strikers who are doing good things on the continent and would be welcome additions to English football.
Click on Loic Remy to unveil the top 10
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Sir Alex Ferguson wants his Manchester United side to concentrate solely on their Champions League semi-final against Schalke.United hold a 2-0 aggregate lead over the German side heading into the second leg of their semi final on Wednesday, and will no doubt have their crucial Premier League clash against Chelsea in the back of their minds.
And despite calling for focus on their next game, Ferguson recognised how big the next week will prove to be in United’s season with their game against Chelsea following just four days after Wednesday’s match.
“If you look at the experience of last year when we lost in the league it came after a Wednesday game against Bayern,” Ferguson said.
“The team were very tired against Chelsea in that next game. That has to have a bearing on my team selection. Two massive games both as important as the other.”
One concern for Ferguson is the fitness of striker Wayne Rooney, who failed to train on Wednesday.
Rooney is in doubt for Wednesday’s match, but midfielder Darren Fletcher will be available.
“(Rooney) didn’t train this (Tuesday) morning, he’s got a tight hamstring so we’ll see what he’s like (on Wednesday),” Ferguson said.
“Darren will play part in the game – he is involved. He has shown great improvement from his reserve game last week. He has done a lot of good work.”
United are coming off the back of a defeat away to Arsenal that has blown the Premier League title race wide open, and Ferguson recognises the need to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible.
“That’s the great beauty of football; at least you always have the next game to do something, and we’ve only had to wait three days really,” he said.
He also backed his players to respond against the Germans and added: “I think they’ve been through many tests like this and (the one they will face on) Sunday. So I trust that.”
Ferguson also firmly rejected the idea that the tie against Schalke is already settled given their healthy lead.
“I hope Manchester United don’t regard it as a formality, I certainly will not be,” he said. “I think you’ll find they will have a real go.”
Ferguson also used his pre-match press conference to back goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar’s decision to retire at the end of the season, stating the Dutch goalkeeper’s career had reached its ‘absolute pinnacle’.
He said: “All of a sudden age comes on you very suddenly, and I wouldn’t want to see Edwin van der Sar in that situation. He deserves to go out at the very, very top.”
Derby County’s Stephen Bywater strikes me as a bit of an oddball. On the pitch he seems a normal, steady goalkeeper. He made fifty nine league appearances for West Ham United and has made one hundred and fifty for his current club Derby County.
Off the pitch he seems a fruit loop somewhat. Following news that he created and erected a piece of erotic art in his garden, at the disgust of his neighbours, I thought I’d delve into some of the other strange goings on in Bywater’s past.
Firstly, the sexy art though. Apparently the piece included wind chimes, a blow up doll (rubber genitalia included) and a portable toilet covered in graffiti such as ‘love’ and ‘piece’. Yes piece. Rumour has it he put the art up in an attempt to force his neighbours to sell him four acres of their land for his horses to graze on!?
Bywater lives in Sutton-on-the-hill, eight miles from Derby. The town has a population of one hundred and twenty five people, has no shops, no post office, no pub and no regular bus service. It’s a ghost town basically. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just unusual for a millionaire footballer to live in the middle of nowhere.
He has previous as well when it comes to being a muppet. On Goals On Sunday in 2007 he spelled out the word c*** live on air as part of an anecdote. Host Claire Tomlinson was placed on two months leave because of the incident.
Bywater has also expressed his desire to become a cage fighter when he retires from football. Seriously. He said: “I’ve told my agent one day I am going to take it up, he laughs at me but I’m serious.”
When Derby were promoted to the Premiership for the 2007/2008 season he was actually deluded enough to believe he would get into the England squad. He said: “I grew up with a few of the lads like Paul Robinson, Rob Green and Chris Kirkland and they are good but I don’t think they are anything special. I do believe if I play well and have a good season, I will be up there in contention. I am confident but not cocky.” Derby finished bottom of the league with the lowest amount of points ever recorder in the Premiership.
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Whether it’s erotic art, cage fighting or saying the C-word on live television, you’ve got to agree the guy’s a character.
Follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/CraigMorris21
With Wycombe sitting in the relegation zone of League One for the majority of the season, the January transfer window looked like it had come at the perfect time and would give the Wanderers a good chance to strengthen the squad and push onto safety. However it turned out a little differently to what we expected.
The first signing of the window took place on the very first day with Grant Basey joining on a permanent deal after an impressive loan spell where he made 11 appearances. He came in after previous left-back Andy Sandell left the club ‘to regain his love of the game after being fed up with the travelling to Wycombe and playing left-back’. He went to play as a striker with Forest Green Rovers. On the same day, summer signing Ben Harding moved on loan to Northampton Town until the end of the season after making only a few appearances in central midfield.
After defeat at Preston, Fulham’s Marcello Trotta’s loan deal at the club came to an end. It was no surprise that he decided to not stay for longer after scoring 8 times in 8 games. Trotta recently made the bench in Fulham’s F.A cup game against Everton and again in the Premier league fixture against West Brom, leading Gary Waddock to admit that he was looking for a replacement.
The defence at Wycombe has been beyond poor this season, not helped by a number of injuries. This was the main area the fans believed needed to be focused on. It started well as Waddock bought in centre-back Louis Laing on a one-month loan deal from Sunderland. It seemed as if ex-manager Martin O’Neill had done us a favour as Laing’s first game saw him keep a clean sheet in a 3-0 home victory against Rochdale. Wycombe had the worst defensive record in January conceding 16 goals which is four more than any other team in the professional leagues.
Another one month loan signing was on the cards as experienced midfielder James Harper joined. He will bring more depth to midfield with both Scott Donnelly and John Halls long-term absentees. Harper has 400 games of experience in the top two leagues, helping Reading win promotion in 2006 and then going on to feature in all of their fixtures during their two year stay in the top flight.
It was nearing the end of the window and Bournemouth came in with a bid of £250,000 for top-scorer and hardworking striker Stuart Beavon which was thankfully rejected. The club were determined to hold onto Beavon to help fight for safety. Fortunately Bournemouth instead purchased Crawley striker Matt Tubbs for £800,000.
The day before deadline day, rumours were flying amongst Cardiff fans that promising youngster Kadeem Harris would be joining them. These were confirmed later in the day and Harris joined the Bluebirds for a reported fee of £150,000. This upset many Chairboys fans like myself, who believe he is worth far more. Despite this as Kadeem was out of contract and unwilling to tie himself down at the club so he could have left for free in the summer. Good luck to Harris who looks set to have a bright career ahead of him.
Deadline day was upon us and after letting Harris leave a winger was a must with only Joel Grant and Gareth Ainsworth left to take on that position. Waddock also had the task of strengthening our defence after another shocking performance at Brentford just a few days previous.
Transfer deadline day saw two players leave and two come in. The first move saw striker Scott Rendell join Oxford United on loan for the rest of the season. A weird decision but fortunately young Watford striker Matty Whichelow joined on a one-month youth loan later in the day. Waddock had said that he was looking for a Trotta replacement and hopefully Whichelow can be that man.
It was getting late and the 11:00pm deadline was drawing ever nearer, were we going to see the winger or defender we needed? It was then announced another player was leaving. This time Ben Harding, who had joined Northampton earlier in the window, had made his deal permanent.
By now rumours were flying around that winger Kevin Betsy, who had only left by mutual consent a couple of months earlier, could be resigning for the club, surely not? Finally late in the day, winger Anthony McNamee was signed to ensure that at last we had our much-needed winger. McNamee has just been released by Mk Dons and had a spell on loan here just a couple of weeks earlier. He had shown enough in his time here that he would make a reasonable acquisition on a permanent deal.
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However the main concern now is that despite having the worst defensive record in the country we had failed to sign a defender. Waddock said he was close to a number of deals but was unable to push them through before the deadline. However he is hopeful that we can resurrect some of these deals in the loan window so I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Our next game sees us take on Tranmere Rovers at home, which is a very winnable game and may be vital in keeping fans hopes of survival alive. Sadly we don’t have a very impressive record against Tranmere but hopefully things can change. A result on Saturday will help us push us onto safety with a good run of games against some of the teams around us coming up.
Brazilian champions Fluminense have edged towards qualification for the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals, while holders Internacional drew.Two late goals have guided Rio-based club Fluminense to a 3-1 against Paraguayan Clausura winners Libertad, who will host the Brazilians in the second leg next Wednesday.
Striker Rafael Moura headed the Tricolor into the lead in the fourth minute after connecting with Edinho’s flick-on.
Rodolfo Gamarra responded for the away side in the 61st minute, heading past Ricardo Berna after the Fluminense goalkeeper misjudged his attempt to claim a cross.
Fluminense then moved in front in the 73rd minute through midfielder Marquinho, who fired home a shot from outside the penalty area.
Argentine Dario Conca then doubled his side’s lead two minutes later from a free-kick.
Elsewhere, Copa Libertadores holders Internacional of Brazil recorded a 1-1 stalemate at Uruguayan champions Penarol.
Winger Matias Corujo opened the scoring for five-time winners Penarol in the 36th minute after collecting a pass from Argentine Alejandro Martinuccio.
The Uruguayans were lucky not have had Carlos Valdez sent off after the defender brought down Inter striker Leandro Damiao in the box.
The defender received a booking for his troubles instead of an early shower.
The Brazilians pulled a goal back in the 65th minute through fringe Brazil striker Damiao, whose lobbed effort – with the help of a deflection – sailed past stranded Penarol goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa to hand Internacional a valuable away goal.
Internacional host the reverse leg in Brazil next Wednesday.
Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby has revealed he was fortunate not to suffer a serious injury in a challenge with Bolton Wanderers' Paul Robinson on Saturday.
The Trotters defender caught the Frenchman with a tough tackle that forced him to be substituted during the Gunners' 4-1 triumph at the Emirates Stadium.
Manager Arsene Wenger is already without Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Aaron Ramsey and Robin van Persie and Diaby's absence comes as a further blow.
He will miss Wednesday's Champions League opener against Braga and he is delighted he will only miss a couple of games with the ankle knock.
"I will miss our first game in the Champions League but to be honest I am lucky to only miss two or three games, I really thought I would be out for a long time," he said.
"Bolton is a very physical team and to be honest the tackle was a strong one, but it is Premier League football, people are committed, so it is fine for me.
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"I hope the team start the Champions League with a victory, the first game in any competition is always very important."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Paul Ince has urged Manchester United to move into the transfer market in January, as injuries take hold at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson has lost Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidic for the season in the past week, on top of other long term injuries like Anderson, Rafael and Javier Hernandez.
Elsewhere in the news Luis Suarez’s D-day is fast approaching; Sunderland unable to recall Gyan, while Ashley Cole did not start the fracas at Stamford Bridge.
News
Ashley Cole did not start fracas
Suarez D-day fast approaching
Gyan move ruled out for Sunderland
McCarthy insists Wolves star is not for sale
Manchester United urged to buy in January
Liverpool and Chelsea hopes dashed as Barca rule out sale
Spurs rule out Tevez move as Berlusconi calls on Carlos to choose prestige
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Transfer Talk
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Chelsea keeping tabs on £30m Real ace Higuain as AVB faces striker shortage – Daily Mail
Wolfsburg plot January swoop for Arsenal midfielder – Mirror
Barca strike back over Oriol claim – Sun
Corluka agent admits Spurs defender could make Roma move – TalkSport
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Inter on the Paul as Italian giants court Manchester United youngster Pogba – Daily Mail
Melbourne Victory resuscitated their AFC Champions League hopes with a remarkable 2-1 win over Tianjin Teda on Wednesday.The home side scored two goals in three minutes on the stroke of halftime to secure their first win in Group E and provide interim coach Mehmet Durakovic with his maiden success.
It was a result Durakovic will look back on fondly after Victory trailed 1-0 following Chen Tao’s fantastic solo effort for the Chinese visitors on 37 minutes.
Just seven minutes later Victory dragged themselves back into the contest through a slice of Carlos Hernandez brilliance.
The Costa Rican’s hopeful 35-yard free kick attempt turned into something more substantial when it evaded Tianjin goalkeeper Zhao Yanming into the net.
But much of the credit for the goal must go to Victory captain Adrian Leijer, whose run for the ball caused the Chinese stopper to hesitate at the crucial moment.
Two minutes later, Victory was a goal up after Kevin Muscat slotted home from the penalty spot for his third goal of the campaign.
Muscat was presented with the chance when the lively Kruse was bodychecked by visiting captain Cao Yang inside the box following Archie Thompson’s through ball.
It was redemption for Muscat, who was the guilty offender in the build-up to Tianjin Teda’s goal.
The experienced defender was dispossessed by Chen Tao, who went on a mazy run before unleashing a shot past a despairing Tando Velaphi in the Victory goal.
While the second-half didn’t produce any goals, there was no shortage of entertainment for the 5,683 crowd.
Isaka Cernak spurned Victory’s best chance to kill off the Chinese visitors just four minutes into the second half.
The former North Queensland Fury man was played in by a lovely Kruse cross, but somehow blazed his shot over the top of an empty net when it seemed easier to score.
Speaking of Kruse, the Socceroo international was stretchered off in the dying moments with a suspected knee injury.
Tianjin had the better of the second-half opportunities, particularly late on as they enjoyed a man advantage following Surat Sukha’s 82nd minute dismissal for a second bookable offence.
While they remain bottom of Group E with four points, Victory trails Tianjin by three points following Gamba Osaka’s win over Jeju United.
Gamba triumphed 3-1 over the visiting South Korean side thanks mostly to a brace from Brazilian striker Adriano, who jumped ship from city rivals Cerezo Osaka in the January transfer window.
In Group A, Sepahan’s run of three straight wins came to an end with a 1-0 loss at Al Gharafa, sparked by Ivorian striker Amara Diane’s 19th-minute winner.
Their loss allowed Al Hilal to join them on nine points at the top of the table with a thrilling 3-2 win at Al Jazira.
The hosts led 2-0 at the half-time break following goals from Ali Makbhout and Abdullah Qasem, but Al Hilal rocketed back into the game with a brace to Yasser Al Qahtani and a late winner from Romanian Mirel Radoi.
Shandong Luneng edged closer to progression from Group G with a 5-0 thrashing of Arema Indonesia, one that sees them leap into second on the table ahead of Cerezo Osaka.
Cerezo goalkeeper Kim Jin-Hyeon failed to account for Lee Dong-Gook’s 77th-minute strike as group leaders Jeonbuk Motors ran out 1-0 winners.
Finally, bottom-placed Group C club Piroozi Athletic are all but eliminated following a 3-1 loss at home to Bunyodkor.
Striker Marc-Antoine Fortune is happy to be back at West Bromwich Albion, but insists that he does not regret trying his luck at Celtic.
The 29-year-old spent the second half of the 2008-09 season on loan at The Hawthorns, before opting to join the Bhoys just over a year ago.
However, Fortune returned south of the border before the transfer window slammed shut at the end of last month and is looking forward to a second chance to impress with the Baggies.
He told the Birmingham Mail:"Was I close to staying? We talked at the time but we couldn't find a solution and there were some Premier League clubs and also Celtic, who came in for me.
"I'm a footballer, I like a challenge and went to Celtic, but I never regretted it.
"Celtic were a big club and I played well up there, though I'm glad to come to West Brom.
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"It's good to be back. I had a good time here, with some good memories."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email